It's also the birthplace of King Kamehameha I, who was the great warrior that united the Hawaiian islands. His son, Kamehameah II embraced Christianity and banned the practice of the pagan Hawaiian religions. Now the area is dotted with tiny churches of all faiths, most dating to the mid-1800's. On past Hawi is a town similar in style called Kohala. This tiny town held the local library and visitor center, both of which were cute little buildings. Its other claim to fame is the original King Kamehameha statue, which stands proudly in front of the visitor's center. I would love to make the visitor center building my house, and I'm going to retire and build a copy of it on one of the many primo spots I've fallen in love with here on the island. Oops, I guess I'm daydreaming again.
 |
| Kohala Library |
 |
| St Augustine's Episcopal Church |
 |
| Kohala Visitor Center (my retirment home) |
 |
| A glimpse (in the background) of what was to come |
Anyway, we had lunch in Kohala and ventured on to our primary destination, The Pololu Valley Lookout. This valley is dramatic, picturesque and it was very difficult to capture the grandeur in photos. It was truly awe-inspiring. We had glimpses of what was to come from the road and once we started on the trail, our anticipation was heightened as we stole peeks through the jungle of vegetation along the cliff sides. The trail was steep, rugged, rutted, and washed out. Tumbled boulders littered the path and exposed tree roots, shiny and smooth, varnished by the footfalls of a million travelers, made it a treacherous 20 minute hike down. Palm trees, that looked like something out of Dr Suess' imagination, whose exposed roots like tentacles, clung to the vertical sides of the cliff.  |
| Dr Suess trees |
We crawled over some boulders and found ourselves on a beautiful black sand beach. The sand was silky and velvety to the touch. It looked like fine suede with little flecks that would sparkle, like diamonds in the sunlight. The beach was littered with weather worn stones, that in ancient times were gathered and used for building temples. The supply was limitless. The ocean waves roared displaying their raw power, battering the immense surrounding cliffs and shore. The boys played in the massive surf, while the girls created messages with the stones. Paul and I sat on a weathered piece of driftwood and soaked it all in. I think I could live there, and my house would look perfect perched on the cliff, giving me a 360 degree, bird's eye view of the valley and sea. The hike back up took a little longer than the trip down, but we made it.
Our next adventure was to take Hwy 250 through the Kohala Mountains. We were told at the visitor's center that it was named one of the most beautiful drives in the US. Honestly, every drive we've taken could make that claim, even through the rugged lava fields at sea level. This highway is along the spine of the of the Kohala volcano. On the Kohala side, the clouds hang low and today we had spotty drizzle, which explained why the area was green and lush with high cane grass and trees lining the road. Cattle grazed in the fields and the whole effect made me think of Ireland. Green rolled on down toward the ocean and this was the area we saw our first rainbow of the day. But in an instant, we found ourselves having crossed an imaginary line and the landscape changed into that of something resembling the Southwest. There were cactus dotting the rocky, dry hillsides, and just as you would see in the Southwest, this was cattle ranch country. This highway terminates at Waimea, which is home to the historic Parker Ranch. John Parker came to Hawaii by jumping ship in 1809. He became friends with King Kamehameha and eventually married his daughter and started a huge cattle ranch that is still a working ranch today and encompasses 135,000 acres. It was here near Waimea, that we spotted our second rainbow of the day.
 |
| Shades of Ireland |
 |
| Is this Hawaii or Arizona??? |
 |
| A rainbow! |
The sun was low in the sky and the day was quickly slipping from our grasp. We decided to make one last stop before heading into Kona for the Mahalo dinner. I saw a placard about the railroad in this area and it mentioned Mahukona Harbor. We found it marked on the map as a harbor and beach, so we pointed the car in that direction. We arrived at an abandoned harbor area with an old train station, circa 1930...I could make that my house too....and remants of the concrete piers that were once used in this long ago port. The kids had fun climbing around and exploring. In its heyday, sugar cane and cattle were put on small steamships and sent to the other islands and a the train line terminated here. There was still a large concrete wharf and a ladder at one end that led down into the sea. It was a protected area, probably where the ships docked. Apparently, this is a great place to scuba dive. The old mooring chains are now encrusted with coral and there is a shipwrecked steamship just off the wharf. After sometime, we headed back to Kona to attend the Maholo (thank you) dinner given in appreciation for the volunteers at Saturday's race. On our way home, we saw another rainbow, and this one was a double!
 |
| Train station in Mahukona Harbor (my summer home) |
 |
| A rainbow and its shadow |
 |
| Rainbow in town |
No comments:
Post a Comment